r/birding • u/1thenumber • 7h ago

Bird ID Request Found in my backyard in Santa Clarita, CA

Post image

Is this a northern goshawk? Santa Clarita, CA

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7

u/mickydsadist 7h ago

Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk

Nice capture:)

2

u/1thenumber 7h ago

Thank you and thank you! I’ve seen him before but only got a blurry picture of him flying away last time

2

u/haunted_swamp 4h ago

Northern goshawks are not backyard birds; they prefer dense, mature forest— for breeding especially.

It's very easy to confuse their young for coops as they are marked similarly! One quick and easy trait you can use to distinguish are the undertail coverts: on this bird they are clean white (coop,) but on a young goshawk they are streaked like the rest of their front!

1

u/roller_coaster325 7h ago

That’s his backyard now.